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Plot Summary
Tim's Vermeer, directed by Teller of Penn & Teller fame. Produced by Teller's stage partner Penn Jillette and Farley Ziegler, the film follows Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, as he attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all of art: How did 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer ('Girl with a Pearl Earring') manage to paint so photo-realistically, 150 years before the invention of photography? Jenison's epic research project ultimately succeeds as he uses 17th century technology -- lenses and mirrors -- to develop a technique that might have been used by Vermeer, supporting a theory as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces; on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney; and eventually even to Buckingham Palace, to see the Queen's Vermeer.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
89%- Reviews Counted: 114
- Fresh: 102
- Rotten: 12
- Average Rating: 7.4/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Art purists can relax since [inventor Tim] Jenison, a video wiz with little talent for painting, never really challenges Vermeer's genius for conception and composition. Technology is the thing at issue here.
Fresh: A fascinating documentary that poses a compelling aesthetic query: did 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer use optical devices to achieve his gorgeously photo-realistic, light-filled artwork?
Fresh: "Tim's Vermeer" is a diverting 80-minute account of one man's mission to explore the Vermeer optics theory in detail.
Fresh: Some movies are great because of their artistry; "Tim's Vermeer" achieves greatness - OK, semi-greatness - by placing the act of artistic creation itself under a microscope.
Customer Reviews
Intersection of Art and Technology
Steve Jobs famously claimed Apple was about the intersection of Art and Technology, but this movie shows how that claim was anticipated 350 years ago.
We may have lost a bit as the science and arts went down separate cultural paths, but Tim with encouragement of Penn and Teller have shown it can be alive today based on the Tim's work and his allies bringing Vermeer alive in a very different way.
I found the movie inspiring and timely for all of us today.
Incredible.
Some people are just amazing. Wow.
Amazing Dedication
Both on the part of Johannes Vermeer and Tim Jenison. One for discovering and using the technique, the other for his amazing reconstruction of it.
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- $17.99
- Genre: Documentary
- Released: 2013
- © 2013 High Delft Pictures, LLC. All Rights Reserved.